Ancient Oaks Trail, Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve, San Mateo County, CA, 6/24/2014
I’ve always loved the way these California buckeye trees (at center) are situated on this grassy hill in Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve. Here they are late one summer afternoon as seen looking southwest from Ancient Oaks Trail. The summer fog and low clouds that frequent this area drift by in the distance. This scene divides neatly into two triangles: grassland and forest, and the coloration and long shadows are reminiscent of an Edward Hopper painting. Throughout much of California, the grasses die and turn brown like this by early summer each year. Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve occupies 3,137 mountainous acres on the San Francisco Peninsula.
